Page 169 of Their Arrangement

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He had eyes that never needed words to scare me. And he was using them now. A woman brushed past me on her way out of the café. I moved too late—stepped aside at the last second. Nearly dropped the tray. My heart shot into my throat. My pulse pounded in my ears. But I held it together. Just long enough to get outside.

He was gone.

Not far.

Just not in view.

And somehow, that was worse. Because when you can’t see a monster, you start to imagine where it’s hiding.

I made it back to the building without spilling a drop.

But my hands?

They didn’t stop shaking until long after I’d dropped the coffees on the conference table and locked myself in the bathroom.

The tile was too cold.

My hands were too hot.

The memory of his face still burned behind my eyes like a hand I hadn’t dodged in time. I pressed both palms over my chest like that might hold my ribcage together.

My breath came in shallow bursts.

Tight. Controlled. Useless.

I slid to the floor. Sat there. Back to the stall. Knees up. My phone sat on my thigh. Glowing like a dare. I unlocked it.

The thread opened automatically.

SELENE.

Still at the top. Because I hadn’t messaged anyone else. Because I hadn’t called Wolfe. Because I hadn’t told Barron what I’d seen. If I did? Everything would fall apart.

I typed.

He’s here.

Paused.

Deleted it.

Typed again.

You said I had 60 hours.

It’s only been five.

You sent him early.

Three dots.

Then nothing.

I stared at the screen until my eyes blurred. The bathroom light buzzed overhead. The stall was too quiet. Too sterile. And I was curled in a ball on the floor trying to decide?—

Open the book and hand it over? Or slide it under Barron’s door and fall to my knees? The phone buzzed once.

Tick. Tick.

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